WASHINGTON — The Dodgers will find themselves right where they want to be in the NLCS against the Cubs. As underdogs.
“Listen, we’re going to be underdogs this whole playoffs. Nobody believed that we were going to be winning the division. People forgot about us,” said Kenley Jansen, who threw a 51-pitch, seven-out bridge between winner Julio Urias and closer — yes, closer — Clayton Kershaw on Thursday in the 4-3 victory over the Nationals that clinched the NLDS.
“When Kersh went down [for more than two months with a bad back during the regular season], everybody thought the Dodgers were out. So we’re going to fight,” Jansen said. “I like being the underdog.”
The Dodgers went 3-4 against the Cubs in the regular season. Chicago was 3-1 at home, the Dodgers were 2-1 in Los Angeles.
“We’re not worried about them. We worry about what we have to do,” first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. “They beat us at their home we beat them at our home so it’s going to come down to who wins on the road. We like the way we’re set up.”
It would be nicer to have Kershaw ready for Game 1. But that’s not happening. Kershaw started and pitched Tuesday and then relieved to get the final two outs Thursday.
“Tomorrow we’re going to Chicago and our mind is completely shifted to beating the Cubs,” Kershaw said. “They are a pretty solid team from what I understand.”
Yeah, that’s the word on the street after they won 103 regular-season games and ousted the Giants — in an even year — in the NLDS.
“There’s really good, but so is this team,” Corey Seager said. “We’ve got our hands full.”
But the Dodgers think, so do the Cubs.
“We have a good chance with this team. We’ve persevered through a lot,” said Rich Hill, who started Game 5 and was long gone when the ninth-inning drama unfolded. “We’ve put ourselves in a very good position. The Cubs are one of the best lineups in baseball but we’re down to the final four teams. We’re one of the teams, a team that has something to prove every time we go out.”
Just like real underdogs.